More oh-eight (R): The E-word

A new Washington Post/ABC poll shows electability is fueling Giuliani's lead in the primary, which is exactly what the Giuliani campaign could have asked for. "Nearly half of the Republicans polled said that Giuliani represents their party's best chance to win in November 2008; that is three or four times as high as the percentage who mentioned other candidates. Democrats and independents also said Giuliani would represent the Republicans' best shot at holding on to the White House… Support for Giuliani is not deep -- only a third of his supporters said they are strongly behind his candidacy. That stands in contrast to the top two Democrats in the race for their party's nomination."

The Washington Post got a quickie interview with Giuliani yesterday after a speech in California. "Giuliani said that voters are well aware of his personal difficulties -- his divorces, a strained relationship with his son. 'Some fair, some unfair, some true, some untrue,' he said of the stories. But he said he hopes that those will not be the measurements by which people judge him when they choose a Republican nominee next year. 'All of it gets tested against having been in public office for that entire time, and somehow it didn't affect my performance,' he said. 'At moments of great personal crises, some people perform really well, some people perform horrible. That's kinda what you gotta know.'"

The Los Angeles Times' Brownstein calls Giuliani a federalist and notes it's his way to get the GOP nod. "Giuliani is mostly running for the GOP presidential nomination as a warrior against Islamic terrorism. But his most innovative domestic idea casts him as a peacemaker on the social issues that have divided the nation since the 1960s. Giuliani argues that the best way to reduce tension about social issues is to allow states, rather than the federal government, to take the lead in responding to them. That would allow socially conservative and liberal states to each set rules that reflect the prevailing values inside their borders. Rather than perpetual combat in Washington, he insists, the nation could reach a new equilibrium as different states gravitated to different solutions."

The former mayor is backing a provision that Republicans are pushing in Congress to shield citizens from being sued if their reports of potential terrorism turn out to be false. According to the Washington Times, Clinton is the only White House Democrat who is siding with the Republicans on this legislation. Though, Obama didn't vote on the measure, let along cast a no vote.

The campaign made a big push yesterday to get attention for his support of this amendment in Congress. He did talk radio about it yesterday and issued a press release about it.

PAUL: Is it fair to Paul to have a story done on him comparing his candidacy to Mike Gravel's. Isn't there something a lot more serious about Paul?

ROMNEY: The Boston Globe notes that Romney won't let his accusation against Obama about sex ed for kindergarteners die. He renewed his critiques yesterday, and the Obama folks renewed their defense that Romney was flip-flopping on this issue. "Yesterday, the Romney campaign said Romney never supported sex education of any kind in kindergarten and also pointed out that, as governor, Romney introduced abstinence education into a number of public schools. The Romney campaign further asserted that the legislation Obama had backed in Illinois went so far as to call for sexually transmitted disease prevention to be taught in kindergarten. But that bill also called for any sexual education programs offered to handle all topics in an 'age and developmentally appropriate' manner, and it also let parents choose to keep their children out of such classes."

F. THOMPSON:

The Washington Post reports on the shakeup in the campaign. "Tom Collamore, who has been serving as chief operating officer of the nascent Thompson operation, will become a senior adviser to the campaign, but without day-to-day management responsibilities… Thompson has recruited several veteran Republicans to help run the operation, including former senator Spencer Abraham (Mich.)… Abraham will become campaign chairman. Randy Enwright, a longtime Florida-based GOP strategist who has played key roles in President Bush's campaigns there, will serve as political director."

More: "Republican insiders reported that differences between Collamore and Thompson's wife, Jeri, led to the changes. Sources close to the campaign said those reports were overblown. 'There's some rub, but it's not near the way it's being played out,' one knowledgeable Republican said."

In fact, the Politico reports Enwright, not Abraham, will actually run the campaign on a day-to-day basis. It also notes Enwright is a one-time lobbyist -- which could feed the lobbyist attacks on Thompson.